doobin

Glad its finding work. Are you replacing the Avant with something larger?

Export market?

Not really, none need such a high horsepower engine. The issues, as usual, are down to the emmissions regs and arbitary cutoffs for machines often based upon weight classes, not what the machine actually does.

Yeah, it's not like the diesel's weren't water cooled! What matters is how quickly manufacturers are honest and drop this dog from their lineup.

Since switching the digger to steel tracks it's begun to trash the trailer ramp. It's a tight fit and there's give in the rubber tracks, but the steels put all the weigh of the digger onto the edges of the ramp. So it's either buy a wider trailer (and wait ages and pay silly money for new or deal with idiots thinking they have a secondhand trailer made of solid gold). Or it's a quick bodge job. With a bit of jiggery pokery I got the side angles easily. The 'meet the ground' angle was a bit trickier but by marking it, placing the mill where I wanted it to finish and zeroing the DRO, I was able to wind the toe jack up to make it approximately work, leaving a bit more length for the blade to lead in. Good enough anyhow. I'll see how this works. I've owned the trailer from new, it's a great trailer, and it's not really any hassle to use these extra supports when loading the big digger- just chuck them in underneath before you close the ramp. It's also a bit more pleasant at the break-over, as there's no steel on steel any more.

Whever you do, leave a small amount of play. Tapered bearings should never be even 'nipped' tight.

People who want to allow all migration because 'open borders dahling' and suggest that we build yet more high density flats to accomodate this disgust me. They invariably live somewhere much nicer, and never cheek by jowel with the recent arrivals. Champagne socialists. Fk em. This country needs a government that will prioritise quality of life above the flawed metric of GDP. 'We' (as in the county / policy setters) only want all these immigrants to keep the price of labour low so they can keep buying cheap goods and services and pretending they are rich because their house is now Xhundred thousand.

That's for red. White has historically always been the same or a penny more than the pumps round me- but worth it for the convenience factor. Since COVID however, it's been considerably cheaper, which just shows how the garages round here are milking it.

Yet more of this utter shite excuse for an engine I see..

And the easiest way to start with is less immigration.

What self respecting man would be seen dead in a split screen or on a scooter anyway?

Although the video looks dramatic I’d say that’s not an alarming amount of side movement for a slow speed taper bearing application and I shouldn’t think any damage has been done. It only ever sits in one position when loaded. I think you could use a couple of thick washers or a custom made spacer to allow the nut to close it up a bit more, but whatever you do don’t ‘nip it tight’ else bearing destruction will follow very quickly. If the rear bearings are not seating against the back of the stub axle then yes I would put the spacer here.

The amount of problems with this shitty engine is beyond a joke.

Been a few with issues with that engine on here.

Briggs EFI engine by any chance?

Better off with a hydrostatic Scag or Ferris. Otherwise the BCS are a pain to shunt about. Not live drive so you have to pull the clutch and wait for the flail to run down before you can change direction. I’m in Sussex and have a 36” Scag flail I’d part with relatively cheap if you’re not too far. I have to say though, for grass you are always better off with a rotary than a flail.

In theory harder to load badly. I’d say only on the longer trailers. I’ve a ten foot triaxle tipper and it’s almost impossible to load it so it tows well! Three axles also allows you to have smaller tyres and wheels for the same weight capacity overall, and therefore a lower trailer. My Bateson 18’ tri axle does tow well.

Unless you're earning at least £1k a day I think you're mad. You could commute to London in that time and earn more with much less physical effort than chainsaw work!

I have a choice of 16' double axle or 18' tri axle. Guess I'll take the tri axle, it's a long way to Hull from here!

Is that a 16' or and 18' Ifor?

Hey! I represent that comment! 😝 😂😂

I have the ms462 on a 20”, it’s great. But now I want an ms400 too! What is it about saws, guns and motorbikes that leads us men to collect models with only a slight difference to the ones we already have? It’s baffling. I mean, I don’t do it with women. Always try something a bit different from the last there!

An Avant can be used for everything from tree works to building to installing a hot tub. You can tow it around easily and build up your customer base via making existing jobs easier. If you buy a larger bit of kit such as a biomass chipper, then you need to be 100% committed and do whatever it takes to get the work coming in to pay the finance. Personally I think multiple smaller machines are better than one big one. £1500 a day for a big chipper sounds great mouthing off down the pub but how much of that is diesel and finance? Half? Two thirds even? I’ve got a mate in forestry and he says depreciation is a killer too. £350 for two hours including travelling moving some materials is much more my style. Two jobs like that a month and the finance is paid, you can take it a little easier.

Love my migs. Spray and pray and it all holds together fine 😂

Definitely buy machinery, you only get one body. Not sure about the large kit though- huge finance, lots of people doing it. Grapple saws etc are all very well, but when the ash dieback glut has finished? don’t forget that a lot of the big chippers you are will be grant funded too. Hard to compete with that! If you don’t have an existing customer base I suppose it’s very hard to know what machines would be best to buy. Diggers, loaders and compact tractors work for me along with a bandsaw mill and coming soon a log bullet. Which was 75% grant funded…